Christmas Wishes

Hi there!

List

Cards sent?

Gifts prepared?

Presents wrapped?

Xmas Dinner planned?

Wine/Champagne cooling?

Post Xmas sleeping zone selected?

Cheesy movies?

Antacid purchased?



Rudy Reindeer ready for flying duty!



If you can say yes to more than one of the above, I am very jealous!!!


Ice cream security!!


We would like to wish you a Very Merry Christmas and hope that Santa is kind.  Be safe and be Merry.

Merrilyn, David & Boys

X

Twilight Market

I thought I should tell you about this weekend's Twilight Market.  Here are some of the stunning designers that make the Daylesford Makers Market so special.
 

Curlypops

Moederkip

If you wanted to see some more of the fantastic things you can find, take a look at the Makers Market Blog.

The Market goes from 4pm til late with that man in the red suit being there from until 6pm.  We will be open during that time as well along with a number of other shops so come on in and say hello!!

You might also see a group of very talented kids busking there (be warned proud mum promoting son and friends here!!!). Hope you can come and have some fun.

Daylesford Craft Experience

Do you remember this?

And This?

Well we are doing it all again in 2011!!!

Some of you would have received Zoe's newsletter already announcing it.  If you haven't heard then read on...

Because we had so much fun with all our beautiful designers this year it was very hard to decide what to do...  We are pleased to announce that both Melly and Jodie are coming back with bigger and brighter ideas.

The third designer will be Kristen Doran.  Kristen does some beautiful printed fabrics as well as some absolutely lovely stitcheries so go and take a look at her blog and shop and drool like I do.

The venue will again be at the lovely Peppers Springs Retreat & Spa in Hepburn with all that yummy food.

You can download the booking forms here.

Hope you can come and have some fun with us in 2011!!!

Resin Casting

You might have seen on Jodie's blog a little while ago about our having two resin classes with Sylvia from Schmookville.  Here are of some of the molds we used with their precious cargo. As you can see we didn't restrict ourselves at all.



Bangles with lichen and moss



The makings of a necklace

 

Using Colour

Sylvia was fantastic in describing how to mix the resin and what things work or not in the resin.  Most importantly it was all about having fun and experimenting with colour and textured items.

The second week involved taking them out and sanding away all the excess bits and pieces.  I had to take a photo - just couldn't resist - meet the masked avengers!!  As you can see files and sandpaper at the ready.

Now for the results....  You can see how stunning the results can be.... And this isn't all that was completed.

I managed to pour a bracelet and a ring but have yet to finished the sanding.....



Bracelet has paper in it and the ring has a piece of tatting

I think everyone had a great time thanks to Sylvia's fantastic teaching skills and enthusiasm. 

We will definitely do this again next year.  Next time it will be a longer course - making our own molds. 
Drop me an email if you would like to join in the fun.

Bubbly the Scrappy Owl

I have been thinking about a number of things to write about this week, but have settled for the one toy that I really enjoyed making the most of late.

Meet Bubbly the Scrappy Owl who was created by the talented Jhoanna of One Red Robin

He has been on my mind for quite some time now and when some fantastic woven wool pieces from Moda arrived, I knew it was time. 

The wool packs contain eight 12" squares of varying colours in either a bright or natural range (I used the natural).  I used about half of the squares to make him, joining two different colours for his back.

My boys have also given their seal of approval ..... Lachlan wants him to come home permanently .... so we might just end up with two in the family...

AND....
Dont forget the fabulous Makers Market is on again this weekend - if you get a chance drop in and say Hi.

Tuesday night sessions

I am still sure that the weeks are going by twos at the moment!  Just when I think I am on top of things I realise that I have a whole new list of things to do...

One thing I have been meaning to talk about is our Tuesday night sessions.  On the first and third Tuesday of each month, from 7.00pm til 9.00pm, you can come and just .. well .. sew.

If you haven't done any sewing before and want to have a go, or just want to finish that item that you just dont seem to get time to do at home, then these evenings are for you.

This is the gorgeous Vanessa who wanted to have a go at sewing and decided to Amy Butler's Birdie Sling.

 

She has done a great job hasn't she. 

What we try to do during the night is work through the complexities of patterns, sew, drink tea (and sometimes wine) and eat biscuits (or chocolate).  In other words no pressure.

Just another quick note... Sylvia's Resin Class is filling up so if you are interested let me know.

Dee Dee & Makers Market

I have been looking at Dee Dee, the dolphin from the talented Melly & Me for a while.  When these lovely prints came in, I thought they were suitable for a girl like her with their lovely nautical colours.

These Aqua fabrics are a range from Michael Miller and are $24- p/m.

Another month has gone by and the talented stally holders will again be at the Daylesford Makers Market this weekend.

Resin Jewellery Classes

We have a great resin jewellery making course at the shop commencing in November.

The course will be conducted by Sylvia Nevistic, who has been a jewellery & object-maker for 13 years.  She has taught jewellery making techniques for about 4 years & loves to pass on the skills she knows to those that want to learn.

In Sylvia's workshop, you will have the opportunity to make unique pieces of jewellery that reflect your own individual style. 

Various techniques will be discussed & used, such as using pigments for vibrant coloured pieces & embedding objects into the resin.

The course will be held over two Saturday afternoons on 13 & 20 November from 1.30 - 4.00 pm.

Some of Sylvia's jewellery works are shown below.

These resin pieces have items from our shop embedded in them - just think what you could do with some treasured objects from home!

If you would like to see some more of Sylvia's work, it may be viewed at her website & her blog.

Full details about the classes are available by following the link to Threadneedle Craft.

School Holidays & Stuff

I don't know how it's happened, but I've lost a week and soon it will be school holidays!!  Just when I thought I'd caught up, now I realise that is never going to happen.

We try to do some fun classes during the school holidays & we have a range of beading, papercraft & beginner sewing classes.  Mind you, the "beginner sewers" are amazing & create beautiful work.

Here are pictures of some of the things we will do & elements we will use this time ...

Beading - a circle bracelet with matching earrings:

Papercraft - decorating a journal using some of the fabulous Kaiser papers - particularly, the "Secret Bird Society" range of papers. 

Here is an example of the papers we will use ...

As for sewing - well you have seen the "Sweetie Petites" (as seen here) - they will be for beginners to attempt & will be completed during the class. 

Also, we will complete Jodie Carleton's "Happy Pails" (as seen here).  The pails will be a great introduction to embroidery, since they have hand-stitched elements in the design.

All the details & times can be downloaded from our website at Threadneedle Craft.

Raspberry Ripple

A little while ago I got a couple of Melly's Raspberry Ripple Patterns.  The pleats in this bag really give it a different look and I thought it would be a great one to make up.  Being contrary of nature I decided to make it with only two contrasting colours and well, here is the result...

Here's an inside view - it has a pocket in the middle which I love (excuse the dodgy photo - I had to do it rather quickly - at least my hand is out of the way).

Its a great pattern for something a little different and you can make it as colourful as you want.

Now the other thing I must mention is the magnificent Daylesford Makers Market which is on this weekend at the Town Hall.  As always there will be some wonderful creative works by a talented selection of crafters. 

Hope you can make it.

Izzy and Archie

By now you have met Izzy and Archie on Jodie Carleton's Blog.

Some of you may know that Izzy and Archie made an appearance at the Daylesford Craft Experience.  Both Zoe, at Purl's Palace, and I did a version of them for the weekend.

Here are my froggy friends in all their finery ...

I must say, that Archie is the typical boy as his pants continue to fall down (maybe I should have used tighter elastic). 

Here is a picture of the cape - you've gotta have an "super" emblem!!!

Here is the back of the gorgeous little dress with Ernst and Pebble featuring in the embroidered design. 

Now for the interesting part ... 

We still have a few of these kits available.  They include all the froggy and dress fabric, threads and bias binding - all you need are buttons and stuffing. 

A full kit (including pattern) is $35 plus p&h.  Just drop me a line if you would like one.

Sweetie Petites

I know I was going to talk more about Izzy and Archie, but I had to show you these ...

Sweetie Petites

Aren't they cute?? 

They are called "Sweetie Petites" and are from The Red Thread.  Their names are (from L-R) Freddie, Mimi, Molly, Ginger and Daisy, and they come individually as kits for $20. 

Each kit contains instructions, printed fabric (each one has a "little friend") and toy fill to make it up.

I'm going to make Freddie today ...

Sample Scarf and Happy Pails

As you probably know Jodie from Ric Rac has been quite ill with whooping cough but now thankfully appears to be on the road to recovery. 

Jodie created these Sample Scarves for our Craft Experience.  This is a great one to make up in any way you want.  Zoe at Purl's Palace also has two different styles as well and they looked fantastic in the oriental fabrics.  (In this one it looks like we have 6 different fabrics but I just turned one around! - Jodie's idea not mine!!!).  I might add that I didn't foundation piece this one although doing so would give it a bit more body.

And next was Happy Pails - We all know what little boys and girls are made of!  These were great to make and look fantastic.  In fact I am about to turn them into an after school class.

There were two little frogs that also made an appearance at the Daylesford Craft Experience.  You may have seen them on Jodie's Blog here .  Will give them their own post next....

"Daylesford Buds" & "Stuffies"

This is "Daylesford Buds" from our lovely Daylesford Craft Experience. 

I thought you might want to take a closer look at this fabulous handbag design from Melly & me. 

Zoe from Purl's Palace had a gorgeous version as well, using oriental fabrics.  I only wish that I could blanket stitch so neatly! 

I should mention that our bag had a 2" (finished) strap, which is smaller than the one in the pattern - the choice of course is yours. 

And these are the gorgeous "Stitch & Stuffs" by Melly & me! 

The beautiful Angel was included in the goodies bag at the retreat, along with the threads required.  The Giraffe, Bear and Bunny were in the kit along with a fat quarter for the reverse. 

I'm loving the weaveline fabric that Melly recommended. 

I will try to find some better photos of each designers' projects so that you can get a better look.

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In my last post, I forgot to thank a few more people & I would like to do so now:

Spotlight was very kind to give us vouchers that were given out during our amazing "show & tell".

 

Rare Yarns & Australian Knitting Magazine were also very kind in letting us copy some of Zoe's patterns for the goodies bags.

Daylesford Craft Experience

What a weekend! What amazing people! What a lot of fun!

Last Friday, we were desperately trying to finish last minute preparations before our helpers and designers arrived. 

Jodie Carleton of Vintage Ric Rac arrived first, then Jody Abel. We then got our priorities right by starting with a coffee & fantastic toblerone cake at one of Daylesford's local cafes, Bocconcini.

Amazingly, after that we seemed to have an increased energy to get things done!

That afternoon, we set up the venue at Peppers Springs Retreat with huge numbers of goodies, kits, bags, patterns, fabric, books etc, etc ...

As you can see, the room looked absolutely lovely in no time!

Melanie Hurlston & Anette Eriksson then arrived & the level of excitement reached a new high.  The designers set up their beautiful displays which left us in complete awe of their amazing talents.

Here is a photo of all the fabulous designs:

Here is the one & only photo of Zoe & I (centre) together for the whole weekend - we seemed to just keep bouncing around & talking - generally having a great time!

An exciting feature of the retreat was the postcard swap & the results were absolutely amazing ...

As were all the participants ...

Zoe & I would like to acknowledge some of the lovely people that made this event so much fun.

First, thank you to our gorgeous designers - Melanie Hurlston of Melly & me, Jodie Carleton of Vintage Ric Rac & Anette Eriksson of Anette Eriksson Design. 

These ladies made the weekend spectacular for us, with their gorgeous designs & joy of creating.  These ladies also donated some of the lovely prizes during the weekend.

Our fabulous assistants, Jody, Jill, Michelle, Amy & Rani who worked like crazy all weekend (plus more) & kept the weekend going.

We would also like to acknowledge the following local businesses who contributed to the retreat:

Lark - fabric backed mirrors
Sweet Decadence - yummy chocolates
Jules Soaps - aromatic soaps
Hepburn General Store - fantastic giant Smarties
Portal 108 - discount vouchers that you all received

Daylesford Makers' Market - for staying open late.

We were also supported by the following industry sponsors:

SSS - thread snips
Birch - tape measure wrist band
Victorian Textiles - transfer pens & templates
Charles Parsons - Art Gallery fat quarters

Peppers Springs Retreat & Spa were wonderful with their support & amazing food & service all weekend as well as providing some lovely vouchers for prizes.

The biggest thank you goes to all of you who came to our very first Daylesford Craft Experience. Without you all this would never have happened & we are very appreciative.

Regards
Merrilyn & Zoe

PSSSSST - I'll let you in on a little secret ... we had so much fun we are going to do it again next year !!!!

Rural Jardin by French General

We've recently received these fabulous fabrics from the Rural Jardin collection by Kaari Meng of French General.

The collection is named Rural Jardin because the designs are reminiscent of old French gardens in the South of France.

Many of the designs have been reproduced from 19th century French textiles.

We have printed & woven 100% cotton fabrics from the collection as well some cotton/linen mixes.

100% Cotton Prints (Width 110 cm)
- $24 per metre

 Cream / Red Floral

 Cream / Red Floral / Leaf








 Cream / Red Leaf

 Red Floral

 Red Floral / Leaf

 Red Leaf

 Plain (with border)

Cotton / Linen Mix (Width 140 cm)

- $34 per metre

 Cotton / Linen Red

Cotton / Linen Beige

Woven Cotton (design on both sides) (Width 110 cms)

- $24 per metre

 Woven Check (Large)








 Woven Check (Small)